This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is Day 5 together, we're looking together at 1 Corinthians 3 this week, and
I'd like to begin today by reading the verses, verses 18-23 that we're going to
be looking at. 1 Corinthians 3, 18-23, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of
you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so
that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written, he
catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows that the
thoughts of the wise are futile.

So then, no more boasting about men. All things are yours, whether Paul or
Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future,
all are yours. And you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

" What do I do when I'm struggling in my faith? Or what do I do when I'm
struggling with the fact that other people are struggling in their faith? The
fifth thing that I do is I focus with a fresh perspective on Jesus.

Instead of deceiving myself, I recognize the truth. I focus with a fresh
perspective on Jesus. "Don't deceive yourself," Paul says in these verses.

First, notice that we deceive ourselves. It's easy to blame others and say, "He
deceived me. She deceived me.

They led me down the wrong path. It's that false teacher. " And there's no doubt
that false teachers will face judgment for what they've done.

But Paul reminds us here that we deceive ourselves. There's a reason we listen
to false teachers. They appeal to our pride.

They make us feel smarter, smarter than other people. They appeal to our
selfishness. They make us feel like we can have the things that we want
selfishly and also serve God at the same time.

So don't deceive yourself, Paul says. First, just notice and be honest. I can
deceive myself.

I've got to be honest about that in my own life. I can fool myself. So he says,
"Don't deceive yourself by thinking that you're wiser than anybody else.

" The Corinthians were struggling with that. They were thinking they were
smarter than anybody else, and because of that, they were deceiving themselves
more than anybody else. And so he says these phrases that are hard for us to
catch on to.

If you think you're wise by the standards of this world, you should become a
fool so that you can become wise. What's Paul talking about here? He's saying,
"Don't deceive yourself by thinking that you're wiser than others.

" And one of the keys to that is becoming a fool. Now, by becoming a fool here,
he's not saying to think foolishly. He's saying to think like God, because the
world thinks that God's thinking is foolish.

In the world's way of thinking, we get what we get because we got it. In God's
way of thinking, he's given what he's given because he loves us. His love for
you in Christ is entirely opposite to the worldly way of thinking, to the
selfish way of thinking.

If you're all caught up and I've got to get more in order to be ahead of the
person that's next to me, that's, Paul says, that's the world's wisdom. And if
you're wise by the standards of this world, you need to become a fool so you can
become truly wise. There is a true wisdom on the other side of that foolishness.

That foolishness that he's talking about is the cross. God himself in human
flesh giving his life for us, not in order to get ahead, but giving himself so
that you and I could have a life, an abundant life and an eternal life. The
wisdom of this world, the selfishness of this world is foolishness in God's
sight.

It's going to catch us in the end. It's a trap in the end. So don't get caught
up in that trap.

Don't deceive yourself by thinking you're wiser than others. And Paul also says
here, don't deceive yourself by boasting about men. He talks about Paul and
Apollos and Cephas.

You remember these were the teachers that were in Corinth. Paul, the teacher,
Apollos, that teacher partner that you can read about in the book of Acts, the
apostle Paul, Cephas, which is another name for Peter, another great teacher.
These teachers that they began to follow and they began to boast about these
teachers to make themselves feel more important.

How do we do that today? The whole celebrity culture is built around boasting
about other people. I met them.

I got their signature. I saw this on Facebook. They tweeted me.

However you get it, I deceive myself by thinking I'm more important because I'm
connected to this person that I think is more important than me. Paul says
you've entirely got it wrong. If you're trying to make yourself feel more
important by connecting to somebody you think is more important than you, you
don't understand God's work in your life.

Don't deceive yourself, he says. He says instead recognize the truth and this
truth might shock you. He says here's the truth, all things are yours.

This idea of trying to make yourself feel more important, you're already more
important than you could possibly imagine. All things are yours. He's already
given you everything.

When God gave you Jesus and you accepted that gift, he gave you everything in
Jesus, all the gifts for all eternity. He made you a co-heir with his son for
all eternity. And I know you don't see it all in your bank account yet, I
understand that, but one day you will.

One day you will. And Paul says all things are yours. And so spiritually as you
look at this world, he says whether it's Paul or Apollos or Cephas, the world,
life, death, things present, things to come, it's all yours already.

Why are you trying to make yourself feel more important when you've already got
an importance to God that's above your imagining? When you realize you've
already been given all in Jesus, then you can stop reaching for more. And there
is an incredible freedom in that.

When you realize that you've already been given all in Christ, you can stop
reaching for more, for that brass ring. If you take a child and you take him
into a candy store, let me give you a picture of and you say to him, here's a
small bag, get as much candy as you can, as fast as you can. And I'm going to
blow a whistle in a minute.

And as much candy as you have in that bag, that's how much you're going to have.
They're going to start scrambling to get as much candy as they possibly can in
the shortest amount of time. But what if instead you take the child in the store
and say, you know what, I bought this store.

In fact, it's going to be our family store. We're going to own it for the next
hundred years. So anytime you want, you can come by and pick out any piece of
candy that you want because it's our family store.

Now that may not be like Daniel Plan kind of stuff, healthy stuff. I understand
talking about candy here. So let me be a different illustration.

Let's say you take a child or an adult into an apple orchard and you give them
an apple sack and you can have as many apples until I blow the whistle. And then
finally you buy the apple orchard and you say, it's all yours. You can have an
apple anytime.

Now all of a sudden, because it's all yours, whether the candy store or the
apple orchard, the stress melts away because it's already been given to you. Why
do you have to reach when it's already been given? All things are yours.

And the story, as amazing as that is, the story doesn't even end there. All
things are yours. And then he goes on in verse 23 and says, and you are of
Christ and Christ is in God.

He's not just talking about things here. He's talking about our relationship
with Jesus and our relationship with the Father that's going to last forever. I
have to admit to you, there's still some things that need to click in my mind to
really get this.

All things are mine, but it's starting to click. And as it begins to click, some
of that security begins to click into space in my mind, in my life. I can live
with less stress.

I can live with more freedom. I can live with more security. And all of a sudden
how other Christians act isn't nearly so important because my security isn't in
how they act.

My security is in Jesus. My security is in what He's already given. As we think
about, what do I do when I don't act Christian?

What do I do when, especially when others around me don't act Christian and
contend to discourage me? We've talked about five specific things this week.
One, realize that we can act like babies.

And because of that, choose to walk in the Spirit. I can start acting like a
baby in a second and start crying about this, crying about, I don't know about
you. So I need to walk in His Spirit every moment of the day.

I get back to walking in His Spirit when I realize I've fallen into selfishness.
Secondly, you remember to build His church. And so you choose to throw yourself
into the fellowship of a growing church.

Third, you look to the eternal reward, not the temporary ones, the eternal one.
You build for that which will last. Number four, you find your security in Him,
not in the things of this world, not in other believers and the way they treat
you or didn't treat you.

You find your security in Him. And number five, you focus with this fresh
perspective on Jesus, that in Jesus all things are yours. All things are yours.

Let's pray together that that perspective would make its way in a new way into
my life, your life today. Jesus, let that happen. I want to live with less
stress, less reaching for the brass ring, less trying to fill the bag as quickly
as I can.

Help me to realize what you've already given in Christ, that all things are
mine. I know in this world I'm going to face troubles, I'm going to face
difficulties. It doesn't always work out like I wanted it to.

But I know when I get to heaven, I'm going to understand more of what this verse
means. But for right now, I'm going to choose to trust you. Instead of trusting
myself and my sight and the way I see things, I'm going to trust you in what you
tell me about things.

And Lord, I want to live based on that trust. Help me to live that way today. I
pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen.